Running in Dreams
by arkanghel22
Summary: it's not at all like the usual fanfic, ok... arghhh... it's like a fan's dream... or something... just read it please


RUNNING IN DREAMS

A Fanfic done by Arkanghel. All Ranma ½ characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

"Oh, yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Ranma and Akane glared fiercely at each other. Akane's brow twitched in irritation, and her hand holding her school bag twitched with it.  She was trying her utmost to stop herself from bashing Ranma with it. Why couldn't he just listen to her for once? Suddenly, Ranma straightened with a smirk.

"You're just jealous because Kuno gave me flowers again. I'M better than you in everything. I'm better in Martial Arts, in cooking, I'm even cuter as a girl than you!"  he said. 

"Baka! Well, who said I'm competing with you?!" Akane replied crossly, "especially for the attention of a lunatic like him?"

Ranma gave her the red eye, and then jumped up the mesh fence again. He walked nonchalantly onwards.

"Would you listen to me for a moment? I just want you to stop encouraging him so that he'll stop harassing us," Akane yelled at him.

"You're turning into a nagger, Akane," Ranma quipped flippantly without looking at her. Akane glared at his back darkly.  She'd stopped walking and was just standing alone in the middle of the road. Ranma sensed this but remained walking.

Akane shook her head. "We're the oddest fiancées ever. I think we'll never even LIKE each other, Ranma" she muttered with a sad look. Then she turned around and ran away.

-o-0-O-0-o-

                That drab white hospital ceiling again.

                So, she'd fallen asleep reading her manga. Slowly, the sounds and senses of the real world came back to her. Pale afternoon rays streamed from the window beside her bed. Outside her room, the quiet footsteps of the nurses echoed through the hall. Old Mr. Daimoru, another patient who shared her room with her coughed loudly. The horrid smell of anesthetic and sickness surrounded her. She heard familiar voices from outside.

                "So how is she?" That was her father's voice, he sounded tired.

                "Okay, she's sleeping." Her mother. She slept beside her bed in a hard plastic chair, never far from her for a long time. Her eyes have acquired permanent bags under them, poor thing.

                "That's good. That's good. I guess she'd been reading her mangas again? Hehehe! I've bought some more for her," her father said. There was a rustle of plastic. He was showing the mangas to her mother.

                "Oh, Hiro! Maybe… maybe you should use the money you put in these mangas for the bills," her mother said softly.

                "I know, I know… But she loves these so much…"

                A long silence. And then a sob. Her mother was crying.

"We received a letter from the bank, Hiro," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "We… we have no money left! What will we do?!" 

Long pause again. Then there was a rustle of plastic.

"We'll find a way, Akiko," her father's voice sounded faint. "Now stop crying, dear, she might hear you" Then footsteps approaching the door. They're coming.

So the hospital bills have drained her family's finances. They're bankrupt because of her. And her father still buys her these mangas. She turned her head to her side, and a tear fell down her pillow.  She didn't want to see their tired, worried eyes so she pretended to be asleep still. 

"A-chan, your daddy's here," said her mother softly. A loving hand smoothed the remaining hair left on her head.

"No, don't wake her, Akiko. She needs to rest," her father said. An object was placed beside her pillow. The new mangas.

"We love you, baby," her father whispered. "Get well…" He placed alight kiss on her cheek.

"I love you, too Mom and Dad," she said silently. "I'll try."

-o-0-O-0-o-

                It's been two days now since Akane had started ignoring Ranma. The only time he'd seen her was in class and when it's time to eat. At dismissal time, she leaves with her friends or manages to leave earlier.  She doesn't go straight home, though. He comes home just in time for supper. He'd ventured talking to her and saying sorry, but she just responded in monosyllables and just walked away. He hated it.

                The time he spent without Akane's company made some things clear for him. He missed their banter, he missed her smile, he even missed it when she glared at him. He had to admit it, he missed her. Now, he was determined to make things right this afternoon. He was going to do it whatever it takes. He remembered the last thing she said before she ran away from him.

                "I think we'll never even LIKE each other, Ranma…" she'd said. Somehow, that statement filled him with a sad feeling.

                Ranma had fallen asleep at the last period before dismissal time, so when the bell rang, it took him a few minutes to reorient himself. That was all it took for Akane to slip away without him noticing.

                With a curse, he bounded out the room. Looking around, he checked if Akane was still in the premises. She wasn't with her friends and Hiroshi said she saw her leave already. Where could she be by now? But before he could step out of campus, a shower of lingerie fell over him.

                "Nooo," he groaned loudly. He was chest deep in bras and bikinis and he couldn't move.

                "Oh, yes my dear boy!" a gnarled stump of an old man landed on top of his head.  Happosai has come back to town again.  Oh great joy.

                Happosai leaned over Ranma till they were eye to eye. Then he made puppy eyes at him.  "Ranma, my most prized pupil! Could you turn into a girl and wear this for me?" he said, holding up a frilly pink bra.

                Steam blew out of Ranma's ears and he managed to free his arms to swat the old man away. Unfortunately, Happosai nimbly evaded it and hopped to a tree.

 "Go to hell!" Ranma yelled at him angrily.

"Tee-hee-hee! Can't catch me! Can't catch me!!!" Happosai said as he danced on the tree branch. 

Suddenly, Ranma heard a distinct sound that filled him with fear. Glancing to his right, he spotted a mob of women coming his way. They were angry…And they were armed. Ranma panicked. They were coming straight for him.

He tried to wiggle out but he needed time. Then he suddenly got an idea.

"Oh Happosai! Look!" Ranma grabbed the frilliest bikini he could find and dangled it before him. Then he deliberately threw it in a puddle before the mob of women.

Happosai only had eyes for his bikini. "NOOOOOOHHHH!" he cried and dived for it. He was immediately engulfed by the angry women. Ranma sighed in relief, he was safe. He extracted himself from the mound of lingerie and quickly left the campus. He only stopped running when he got to the park.

 Now where could Akane be, he thought as he rested on a bench. She can't be in the mall since she's not with her friends. She can't be at home because she doesn't go straight home because she was avoiding him. Where could she be?

"AIREN! Airen waiting for Shampoo, neh? Airen so romantic!"  A bicycle suddenly braked right in front of Ranma and in a moment, a purple-haired Chinese girl sat on his lap. 

"Uhhh… Shampoo, get off," Ranma said nervously. She responded by cuddling more. Ranma reddened. "…I said get off, Shampoo," he said again.

"Why?" she purred. Suddenly, a chain whizzed near Ranma's ear. A bunch of daggers followed. Ranma dropped Shampoo and hopped out of the way of the projectiles.

"RANMA SAOTOME! What are you doing with Shampoo!!!" a Chinese boy with straight black hair and glasses bellowed. He drew out more weapons from his sleeve.

"Nothing. You should ask what she's doing with me," Ranma answered. Mousse reddened.

"Why you…!" Ranma broke into a run, and Mousse followed, flinging knives at him.

"Ooof! *Stupid Ranma*" she said crossly in Chinese, rubbing her bottom. "Come back, Airen! Stop it , Mousse!!!" she yelled and jumped to her feet.

Ranma ducked as a dagger flew above him. Another one flew dangerously close to his neck. When he looked back, a shurikken almost chopped his pigtail off.

"Hey! That almost got me, duckboy!!!" he yelled angrily. It's hard dodging flying weapons when you're running away. He espied the bridge just before him and decided that this was his only way to escape Mousse and Shampoo. If he timed it right, Mousse wouldn't see when he jumped down the bridge due to his poor eyesight. When Ranma got to the bridge, he finally faced the Chinese boy.

"Look, a UFO!," Ranma cried and pointed to the sky.

"Nah, I don't believe in such things," Mousse replied and flung a chain at him. 

"Uhhh… there's a drop-dead gorgeous model walking towards you," Ranma said as he evaded the chain.

"I only have eyes for Shampoo," Mousse declared, but his eyes darted to his side.

"Okay…," Ranma tried to think of something to distract Mousse. "It's Cologne in a sailor fuku," he finally blurted out in desperation and pointed to Mousse's back.

"What?!" Mousse quickly glanced to his back and Ranma finally jumped down the bridge.

"Where? There's no…Where'd Ranma go? RANMA!!!!" Ranma listened as Mousse ranted above him, and when he got tired, Mousse finally stormed off. Ranma sighed in relief.

"Ranma?" a surprised voice said beside him. Ranma started.

"Akane?!"

-o-0-O-0-o-

            She was awakened by Mr. Daimoru's hacking cough, but that didn't bother her than her headache. Her head was pounding. It felt like a hundred hammers were beating on her skull. She tried to sit up, but she felt too weak to do so.

            "Sorry to wake you, child," Mr. Daimoru apologized when his bout of cough passed. There was a wheeze on his voice. 

            "It's 7:00 in the evening, if you want to know," he said. "I persuaded your mom to get a bite to eat."

            She was just half- listening. She curled up in a fetal position, her hands gripping her head. A small whine escaped her clenched teeth.

            "Mama…" she mumbled.

            "Eh? Is something wrong?" Mr. Daimoru said worriedly. He half- rose on his bed to look at her. "Nurse! Nurse! Come quick…!"

            Running feet, and then gentle hands forced her to lie on her back. She was half- conscious of soothing voices telling her to relax. A needle was inserted in her arm, but the prick was no comparison to the pain in her head. 

            Then she felt like she was floating. Floating away from the pain. Floating back to her dreams.

-o-0-O-0-o-

                "Akane!" Ranma said in glee, "I found you!" 

                "Eh? You were looking for me?" Akane said blankly. "Why?"

                Ranma frowned. "To apologize, of course." He answered matter-of-factly. Akane shook her head.

                "But you've done that already," she said.

                "But you haven't accepted it yet," he countered. Akane turned away from him and stared at the running water. She looked sad.

                "Why? What for? Don't you realize we'll never get along?" she asked. Ranma was astounded. He didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet and stared at the fish playing in the water.

                "From the very start, we've never been friends. So what do you expect?" she asked quietly. Ranma didn't reply. The feeling that he was losing very Important was almost palpable. Silence descended between them. 

                "Maybe that's the problem…" Ranma suddenly said.

                Akane looked at him in askance.

                "We started off on a wrong footing!" he said as if that would explain everything.

                "Yeah, so?" Akane said perplexedly.

                "Then let's start all over again!" Ranma said jovially. He hopped to his feet. "We'll forget about that fiancée thing, and all that mumbo jumbo… and start as strangers, okay?"

                Akane watched him with a bemused expression, and then a hesitant smile touched her lips.

                "That sounds sensible," she said, now grinning. She accepted the helping hand that Ranma stretched towards her.

                "Great!" Ranma said. He felt like he'd just stumbled over the most brilliant idea in the whole world. They laughed.

Ranma coughed self-consciously and then rubbed his hand on his pant leg and stretched it to Akane for a handshake.

"Hi, I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm sixteen," he couldn't help grinning because of the ridiculousness of the situation.

Akane giggled, but took his hand in hers. "I'm Akane Tendo, and I'm also sixteen," she said.

"Can I escort you home?" he asked.

"Sure" she replied. Ranma scooped her things from the ground and they started walking.

"Are you new here?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"Uhh… no, I've been living here for months now," Ranma answered.

"Really? Where do you live then?"

"At the Tendo Dojo," he answered with a lopsided grin.

"Wow! What a coincidence! I live there, too!!!" Akane said, and they burst out laughing.

-o-0-O-0-o-

                She awoke to find a number of machines strapped to her. Wires were connected from her temples to a beeping machine on her right. There was syringes stuck to both her arms, and a tube was inside her nose connected to another wheezing machine on her left. She could feel the tube traveling from her nose and inside her throat. In alarm, she began to choke, the wheezing machine emitted a piercing cry. 

                A nurse was immediately by her side. "It's okay, it's okay, A-chan… Relax," she said soothingly.

                "Wha-?" she asked dazedly.

                Her mother suddenly appeared beside her and took her hand She could see that she'd been crying. Her mother's eyes were red-rimmed. 

                "Mama…? What's… happening…?" she asked drowsily.

                "What, Dear? Oh, nothing really serious. Go to sleep, you're still weak. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise," her mother said gently.

                "O…kay…" then her eyes closed at their own accord. 

-o-0-O-0-o-

                "What's wrong with you two?!" Nabiki demanded. It's been a week of no fights and strange behavior between Akane and Ranma. And she couldn't figure it out. Nabiki was determined to know what really was happening so now, she stood arms akimbo barring the entrance from Ranma and Akane.

                Ranma glanced at Akane, but she just shrugged. "Nothing," they answered in unison to Nabiki's question. They pushed past her and continued on inside the house.

                Nabiki gnashed her teeth. "I'm going to tell our Parents that you two are in love if you don't tell me!!!" she threatened. The two ignored her.

                "Are you still tutoring me on Math this afternoon, Akane?" Ranma asked casually.

                "Sure, come to my room after 15 minutes," she replied.

                "Great!," he said and they parted ways.

                "I'M GONNA TELL, YOU KNOW!!!" Nabiki yelled after them. She sounded like a petulant seven year old, and she was ashamed to say that she was aware of it.

-o-0-O-0-o-

                "I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" she screamed in horror. "I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!!!"

                The nurses came running to restrain her because she was slapping her legs frantically. The machines strapped to her were beeping shrilly. Her father stood helplessly, looking down at her in pity. Now she knew everything was really going downhill. Tears burst down her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

                "Help me, Daddy!," she cried. She saw tears fall down his cheeks, too. He made a step to come near her, but it seemed he couldn't make himself do so. Abstractedly, she observed the familiar bag of the manga store where her father always bought her mangas stuck under his arm. Somebody drove a needle in her arm.

                "A-chan," he said almost pitifully. "A-chan…"

-o-0-O-0-o-

                Akane and Ranma were walking relatively peacefully for home. So far, Shampoo had already attacked, Kuno was still out cold in the clinic because of the thrashing Akane gave him, Ryoga was still lost somewhere, Ukyo is catering for Ucchan's so she'll be quite busy, and Happosai is out panty- raiding again, so everything was all clear for now.

                "Akane, can I ask you something?" Ranma asked thoughtfully.

                "Sure," she replied, and smiled encouragingly at him.

                He stopped walking, and turned to her with a serious look on his face. There was resolution in his eyes. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

                "If I… If I…" for a moment, he seemed to lose heart. Then he steeled himself.

                "If I told you I loved you, would you believe me?," he asked in a rush. "If I asked you to leave with me, would you come?"

                Akane stared at him, dumbstruck. His hands gripped her shoulders harder. "I love you, Akane. Come with me…" he said frantically. 

-o-0-O-0-o-

                "Emergency! She needs to be brought to the ER!" 

                "No time! Resuscitation must be done here!"

                Jumbled voices echoed through her head, but the biggest echo was the pain throbbing inside her brain. What was that shrieking sound? Somebody turn those horrid machines off. Blurred figures moves around her, yelling, talking to her. Somebody's crying.

                "Okay, clear!" a sensation on her chest… they're trying to wake her.  She tried to open her eyes.

                "Please… please… please!!!"  her mother was begging. 

                "When she opened her eyes again, she saw her mother and father standing beside her bed, tears running down their faces. Other strangers stood around her, looking very grim. And at the foot of her bed, a familiar figure stood. 

                "Come with me," he said. 

His beautiful blue eyes. That memorable easy-going grin. His voice drowned the pain inside her head. He stretched out his hand.

                "Come with me, Akane"

                Her mother was crying. Somebody was shaking her. Everything was melting except for him. Except for him.

                With a smile, she took his hand in hers. The other sounds melted away, along with her pain. She found she could move her legs again.

-o-0-O-0-o-

                The shrill sound of the heart machine pierced the air accusingly. At last, the doctors have given up. The nurses stood silently, turning away from the grieving parents.

                "She was so young," the mother cried.

                "Shhhhh… at least she was happy," the father tried to dry the tears from his wife's eyes but his own tears continued falling still. 

"Didn't you see her smile? It was beautiful" 

THE END

--- I don't know how I got this idea, but I just had to write it.  I was sniffling like crazy as I wrote this. 

Okay… to explain this… It's about a sick girl who is a great fan of Ranma ½. Like all die-hard animanga fans, she wishes to live in the Dream world where all Anime people come from (I don't know 'bout you, but I really do wish I'm in the Anime Universe so I can meet Mamoru, Tamahome and Shinnosuke of Ranma ½… oh, well) To escape the pain she feels in the real world, she dreams. Well, she dies in the end and her dream is finally fulfilled.

Incidentally, the sick girl's name is also Akane.


End file.
